It’s early 1941, and Italy is struggling to invade the small nation of Greece. Greek forces are putting up surprising resistance to their invaders and even pushing them back. This is an embarrassing stalemate for Italy, and British troops will soon arrive to help the Greeks. Hitler is worried about this since it might mean a threat to Germany from another front, so he decides to intervene. However, he has a problem, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia form a buffer between Germany and Greece. Hitler manages to convince the first three to join the axis and let his troops pass. Yugoslavia has to be invaded since it refuses to join. With all obstacles gone, Greece is invaded and occupied.
Germany also falls back on its non-aggression pact with the U.S.S.R and launches the largest land invasion in history, dubbed Operation Barbarossa. Joseph Stalin, the leader of The Soviet Union, is caught completely off guard. The German army makes great progress because of its superior tactics and better preparation. Germany convinces its allies to commit troops to the invasion too. Finland, seeing Germany’s success, starts a separate invasion aimed at retaking its lost territories.
In the Pacific, Japan ( a German ally) wants to expand south because of its restrictions to the north with the U.S.S.R. But one problem, the area is heavily colonized, notably Britain and The US, who have major fleets there. Japan launches an attack on The U.S. fleets at Pearl Harbor (which leads to a declaration of war on Japan) and attacks major British holdings such as Hong Kong and Singapore. This destroyed any major resistance Japan faced. Japan steamrolls through the Philippines, Indochina, and Burma, forces Thailand to ally with them to march their troops to Malaya. And by August of 1943, all of southeast Asia and a good chunk of the pacific is occupied by Japan. Japan's occupation of former colonies and China is cruel and sees uncountable atrocities committed by Japanese troops, the most famous example being the Nanjing Massacre.
Back in Europe, Germany declares war on The United States as a sign of solidarity with its Asian ally. Fun Fact: The United States has the honor of being the only country Germany formally declared war on in the second World War. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union's situation is getting worse. The important city of Leningrad (modern-day St. Petersburg) is being sieged by German-Finnish forces. This siege would be one of the most gruesome of the war. Over 900 days, more than a million civilians and defenders were killed, and the city did not regain its post-war population until the 1960s.
During the invasion, Hitler’s hatred for the Slavic peoples and communists was unleashed as millions were sent to death camps and executed. The Jews in the area were also deported and jailed, soon to be sent to concentration camps. They also distributed land taken from the Soviet Union away from Jews and Slavs among ethnic Germans. Many Soviet POWs were executed, and civilians endured horrible conditions.
At this point, the Germans were dangerously close to Moscow and and most people would think that Germany would win the war at this point. But then it got cold, so cold that the oil was freezing inside German tanks. Hitler has failed to give his troops winter clothing and supplies, and as many died from freezing and disease as died from actual combat itself. Stalin had also called troops in from Siberia, who were trained to fight in the extreme cold, and the Germans were pushed back. Hitler was forced to dig in for the winter and wait until spring.
Winter went by quickly, and when spring came along, Hitler had a new plan. He wanted to send troops through Ukraine to strike south at the Caucasus, a region full of oil that would be useful to power his war machine. He planned to encircle the region, which would require the Germans to take the heavily fortified city of Stalingrad. The Soviets defended it fiercely and bought valuable time for themselves.
At the start of the invasion, the U.S.S.R had moved all its factories eastwards to safety, and now the Soviet buildup was finally ready. Its tanks and planes came to the aid of the defenders of Stalingrad and annihilated the German army. And the Germans were pushed back. The Axis were pushed out of Africa due to their defeat at the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt and the Allied forces invading from the Atlantic. The Allies proceeded to invade Sicily and southern Italy. Allied forces also landed at Normandy and liberated France. Within a few weeks, Allied troops had defeated the Germans and Italians. The war in Europe was over.
In the Pacific, Indian and Chinese troops invaded Burma, and the Americans started their island-hopping campaign. This required them to hop from small island-to-small island, fighting the defenders and capturing them, getting closer to the Japanese heartland with each island. Troops from Australia and New Zealand started retaking New Guinea, and Soviet Troops started to invade Japanese Manchukuo.
The first atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima on August 6th and Nagasaki on August 9th. The Japanese cities were destroyed, and Japan had to surrender. The war had ended.
